The Girl
by RiverCookie
Summary: A short tale of how much the player character means to the village of Animal Crossing.


**[Note: A brief little look at your character's relationship with the town.  
****...I don't update much, do I? ****(...in my opinion, for good reason, but that's for you to judge. Have fun.)]**

The girl had moved to the quiet village many years ago.

She wasn't one for talking back then, and not many of the villagers paid her much mind after their initial greetings to her. That didn't bother her, though, as she seemed to be content with simply enjoying the flora and fauna of the place.

Her first few weeks were spent working for the local general store. Under his orders, she introduced herself properly to everyone in town, delivered a few orders, and made a few landscaping changes to the surroundings of the store. Afterwards, she was released from his employment, and got to work making a living on her own. Villagers often saw her fishing by the stream when she wasn't chasing after valuable bugs. Those were common acts for the residents, though, so no one was particularly taken by her actions. Since she wasn't very talkative, she continued to be ignored save for the occasional friendly "hello".

This changed after the first few months, though. Her neighbors started to notice a sort of charismatic aura about her as she went about her business. Despite the mundane nature of her actions, the way she walked, the way she lived, all of it was indescribably fascinating. They were drawn to her and longed for her attention, no matter how much they tried to deny it.

The girl won over her fellow villagers' hearts with ease. She was very cordial and polite, and what few words she spoke were sweet and kind. Just about the entire town loved her (to varying degrees), but she continued to be modest about her ways. They poured out their hearts to her, sharing their deepest and darkest secrets, and they had no idea why. She, on the other hand, remained an enigma to all. While many insisted that they knew her like the back of their hands, none of them knew where she'd come from, what she'd done before she arrived, or who she really was. And while she remembered every one of their names, they often forgot hers under all the nicknames it had been unceremoniously buried under over time.

The villagers came and went, but she stayed. She continued to draw their attention and make friends and learn about their lives, and she continued to make the town a better place to live. It got to the point that barely anyone remembered when she had arrived, or if she arrived in the first place. All they knew was that she was a sweet, kind girl who everyone seemed to adore.

Her influence over the town became more and more apparent as time went by. The local museum, which had once been almost completely bare, was now filled with all sorts of displays, all of which were listed under the same donor. The village's clothing shop had started displaying strangely alluring designs by an anonymous artist, the style of which showed up in the art of that mysterious girl. When they looked to the night sky, they occasionally found themselves picking out constellations that she had named at the local observatory. The song the town hall clock chimed, the rising ratings of the town's appearance, every catchphrase or verbal quirk or nickname in town…all were made by her. And sometimes, the villagers got the feeling that something had changed about the time. Like it had been that day before, but then it was that day again. It was different, but the time felt…strange. When they brought those feelings up to her, they got the feeling that she had more to do with it than seemed possible…

Over time, she started vanishing. It was a gradual process that started with her being missing every other day. When they asked where she'd went, she'd smile and reply with a simple, "Nowhere, silly." The absences started growing longer and longer, from a few days to weeks to months. She never answered their questions about where she'd gone or why. They noticed, however, that with each day she showed up, she was looking more and more tired. One day, they found her sitting by the sea, just staring into the sky.

And then she didn't come back. She hadn't left, since the diligent guards at the town entrance had never seen her go in or out. But after they looked for her day and night, they still could never catch her anywhere. They knocked on her door over and over, but never got a reply. When they finally broke into her house in search of answers, all they found was a small note on the bed up in the attic that simply said, "done." There was no sign of her anywhere.

After her disappearance, for some reason no one ever had the notion to take up the jobs she had done before, and the town's quality went down again. The trees grew wild. Weeds ran rampant throughout the place, choking the few flowers that the gardening villagers tried to plant. A rafflesia even bloomed in the middle of town. The villagers tried to adjust, but they were plagued by the feeling that something was…missing. Their actions were robotic, meaningless. Why did they continue? What was the point? But they trudged on.

As time passed, the girl became a sort of legend of the town. They kept her house pristine, hoping that she would return. They spoke of her as if she were going to come back any time, even though they knew she never would. Villagers continued to move in and out, and talk of her continued. The last ones who ever knew her first hand eventually grew old and perished, the last true memories of her dying with them.

More years passed. The last remains of her home were torn down, the last traces of her influence were wiped away, and the last whispers of her name faded to silence.

And then a girl moved to the quiet village…


End file.
